 |
| ...we've got fun 'n' games |
Just shy of the half way point on our trip, Kora and I split off from our travel group in eager anticipation of a worthy adventure far off the beaten path. Anxious to embark on an experience that would brand us the most hardcore Jungle Janes on 3L law exchange (laugh it up if you want, but like everything in law school, the competition for such a title is incredibly fierce!), we made our way to the dusty town of Huay Xi where we checked out of civility and checked into the Gibbons Experience- a three-day trek far afield in the Bokeo province of Northern Laos.
 |
| Traveling up the Mekong |
Getting to the small headquarters of the Gibbons Experience was our very first test of jungle endurance. Getting to Huay Xi requires a 16 hour journey by slow boat up the Mighty Mekong (with an overnight stop in a village with NO INTERNET!), but our Gibbons Experience in fact started way back in the summer when a friend of mine from Queen’s had first whispered in my ear tales of a place where you could soar through the canopy with nothing between you and the canopy but a rope, a harness and the fresh jungle air. I had pitched the idea to Jesse and Nicole, and to Karen (coincidentally nicknamed “The Experience”) Vadasz, another summer student at Goodmans and fellow classmate at Osgoode on exchange in Tokyo. After a seemingly endless stream of emails, google maps, transportation guides and travel blogs, we were able to confirm our trek with the tour office and had laid out a rough plan of how to plant ourselves in the middle of this seemingly impossible-to-get-to part of the world. We even convinced Kora to come along for the ride.
Despite having read a number of helpful reviews, nothing had prepared us fully for the unpleasantries of the jungle we were about to experience, although I suppose we should have known we were in for a treat when the only way to arrive at headquarters is via a half-flooded longboat that also served as the major mode of transportation across the border between Laos and Thailand. After holding up in Sawadee (Hello) Guesthouse for the night, we abandoned our big packs at HQ and loaded our backpacks with water, 100% deet and other necessary jungle provisions and set out on our adventure.
 |
| In the back of our Trusty Toyota |
The first leg of our journey was a three-hour ride in the back of a pickup, modestly outfitted with wooden benches to accommodate passengers willing to put up with dusty lungs and bruised buttocks (basically, those who have no choice of sitting elsewhere- US!). Less than an hour in, we left the paved road in our dust and kicked our trusty Toyota into 4-wheel drive. We veered sharply off the main highway, down a steep and narrow dirt road leading toward the Bokeo Nam Ha Nature Reserve. We had travelled less than two hundred meters when we rounded a bend and came face to face with a sizeable river. Our eyes widened as we realized the road did not keep bending, it continued on straight ahead on the far bank. We held our breaths as our driver motored through the watery obstacle without so much as a second thought. We emerged safely on the other side and allowed our muscles to relax for a brief moment before tightening our grip on the sides of the truck to keep ourselves from being thrown from the flatbed as the Toyota maneuvered it’s way over the bumpy dirt road.
 |
| Jesse and Nicole enjoying the ride |
 |
4 by 4... by an extra 4
|
 |
| Covered in Jungle |
Our convoy made it over the first few hills with relative ease, but we soon came to a sudden stop as we saw the truck ahead rolling slowly down a muddy hill before sinking into deep tire ruts and coming to a stop. Locals from both trucks jumped out quickly to the aid of the fallen vehicle and with a great heave-ho and a great deal of splattering mud and sputtering exhaust, the men were able to free the truck from the oozing mud and it lurched forward, sliding side to side on the narrow road before regaining control and continuing on its journey. The rest of the ride into the jungle continued in very much the same manner, our two Toyotas struggling and stalling on the slippery slopes. By the time we had reached the start of the trail, we had already hiked for just over an hour and were already covered in a decent amount of mud.
We finally piled out of the truck at a tiny village nestled away in a jungle clearing and said good-bye to our truck and hello to the three British girls who would be our hiking companions for the next three days. We also ran into three American girls who were just returning from their trek. We took one look at their legs, ravaged by insects, and quickly applied an extra film of Off! to our exposed skin in a fruitless attempt to stave off the jungle bloodsuckers.
 |
| Children in the village where we set off for our trek |
 |
| Saying a final goodbye to civility |
 |
| View of the rice paddies from the hill |
 |
| Leaving the clearing |
With our harnesses strapped to our bags we set off past the flooded fields of wild rice, deep into the rugged jungle. It was just coming up on the end of the rainy season in Laos, and although the skies were kind to us, the trails told tale of recent rains. It didn’t take long before we realized that any attempt to keep our shoes dry was in vain, and soon we were trudging along through sticky ankle-deep mud.
Now, I’m not usually a big gambler, but I would wager that most people reading this blog have never experienced mud like we have now experienced mud. We got positively up close and personal with mud. Mud that was brown, mud that was black, some mud that was varying shades of green and yellow, mud that stunk, mud that was spotted with cow pies and mud that oozed through my “waterproof” hiking boots, producing a cartoon-like soundtrack to our march as we struggled to free our feet from the sinking ground with every step. Thankfully, our trail was interrupted by a number of shallow rivers, and the trek across gave us a chance to refresh our dirty feet ever so often.
 |
| Can't go over it, can't go around it, gotta go through it! |
 |
| Nicole negotiates her way through the mud |
 |
| So much for staying dry! |
Warning: If you are squeamish, now is a good time to stop reading. The mud was the tamest of the jungle beasts we encountered.
 |
| One of the less offensive creatures we saw- a giant red ant |
 |
| Leech 10 - Yellow shirt 0 |
After about an hour inside the jungle, it seemed as though we had put the muddiest sections of trail behind us, but we didn’t dare stop in our tracks to celebrate. As the trails began to firm up, we immediately noticed that we were literally surrounded with leeches at every step. With our eyes glued to the ground, we cautiously made our way up the slippery trails, watching as the bloodsuckers writhed about on the ground lifting their jaws into the air hot in pursuit of our tasty flesh. We spent the remaining two hours of the hike on active leech patrol, warning those in front of leeches climbing their way toward the crest of a hiking boot or sock and squeamishly unlatching them from our ankles and flicking them far into the jungle. It wasn’t until we were almost at our first zipline that I looked down and noticed two conspicuous spots of blood soaking through my yellow tank top. I lifted my shirt and uncovered a leech firmly attached to my stomach and bellybutton. He had clearly been feasting away for a while and was swollen to the size of a garden slug by the time I removed him with my shaky hand. Thoroughly grossed out? Me too. Still. *Shudder*
 |
| Ready for the first zip! |
Just when the leeches were starting to get the upper hand on our cheerful spirits, Jer Ja, one of our guides, instructed us to slide into our harnesses and a few minutes later we were standing on a platform in front of a sturdy metal cable extending gracefully across the jungle valley beneath us. I stepped up to the plate first, I think as the guinea pig! I attached my security buckle, placed my thingamajig on to the cable, quadruple checked my carabineers, and then, with my heart racing, leapt forward toward the edge of the cliff. My body bounced twice as the rope adjusted to my weight, and then I was soaring high above the trees in utter elation as the cool winds rushed past my face. The experience was incredible, and definitely made the entire trip worthwhile!
 |
| Launching into the jungle! |
 |
| Kora coming in for landing |
 |
| Karen gets a little boost |
Only one more zip for the first day, straight into our tree house, which resembled something straight out of Donkey Kong or the Jungle Book. Considering it was little more than wooden planks and a thatched roof towering above the jungle floor, our humble treetop abode was absolute paradise. After stripping out of our wet and muddy gear and doing one final leech removal *shudder* we settled in for a cup of hot tea and Longons- a delicious asian fruit that looks like a new potato but tastes like a citrusy lychee. When the adrenaline rush had subsided a little bit, I walked back down the ladder to the lower level of our treehouse and enjoyed a cool shower, in complete isolation, with nothing between me and the jungle but fresh air. It was a truly incredible feeling.
 |
| Zipping into our first tree house |
 |
| Making ourselves at home |
 |
| Jesse uncovers a stowaway in his sock, feasting on his foot |
As the sun set, we enjoyed a hearty jungle dinner, brought into us via zipline by our guides. Lots of rice (which I would grow to despise by the end of the trip) and also some very interesting vegetable mixtures, all of which we believe were grown in the tiny villages that dot the jungle valley.
As our last rays of sun faded, the wild nocturnal jungle started to come to life. We heard the call of birds, echoing across the jungle valleys and the incessant chirping of unidentifiable insects.
 |
| I can still see his beady eyes glowing in the dark |
Perhaps the most terrifying noise of all though was the sound of something slowly ruffling the straw-like branches of our thatch roof. We diligently scanned the ceiling with our flashlights and finally found the source of the shuffling. An ENORMOUS spider with glowing beady eyes had come down out of hiding to join the party! I don’t know how many people have ever heard a spider before, but it probably goes without saying that any spider large enough that you can hear it moving from across the room is not the type of bedmate you are hoping for while on vacation, even in the jungle. We spotted two more of these terrifying arachnids above the tree house toilet, silently spying on us as we brushed our teeth. Karen and I tucked our insect sheets in extra tight before we said goodnight and neither of us dared to emerge until dawn.
 |
| Getting ready for a second day of zipping |
We all sighed a breath of relief when we awoke and found that no one had fallen victim to the spooky creatures of the nocturnal jungle and that our eight-legged friends had retreated back into the darkness to wait out the day. Unfortunately, in place of the spiders, a swarm of giant wasps had claimed our bathroom as their own so we all brushed our teeth in the make-shift sink in the main hut.
Our guides arrived at 8am and before no time, we were zipping and hiking through the jungle and had forgotten all about the horrors of the night before. Despite some rain, the trails seemed slightly drier than the pervious day and we faced the leeches with renewed courage. We trekked into a secluded waterfall where we enjoyed a big breakfast before diving in to the chilly waters. After another hour or two of hiking, we were rewarded by a long circuit of cables stretching out over the valleys between the trees of the thick canopy. spending the remainder of the day hiking and flying along the network of ziplines.
 |
| Butterflies joining us at our lunch spot |
 |
| Nicole, Jesse and Karen go for a swim |
 |
| Relaxin at the falls |
 |
Nicole exhibits good form
|
 |
| Upgraded to a two-story for the second night! |
After spending a second night sleeping nose to nose with giant spiders, we emerged from the jungle on the third day, as promised by the guides, “almost as good as new”. A few dry days had done wonders for the dirt roads and our Toyota made it back to the main highway without incident. Exhausted, we made our way straight to the pier, and crossed the Mekong one final time into Chiang Kong, Thailand. From there, we hired a small bus and made the five-hour journey to Chiang Mai. Aside from a few near heart attacks induced by our driver’s attempts to utilize a non-existant passing lane around almost every bend, it was a peaceful ride and we arrived at the Blue Hotel just in time to tuck in to bed knowing that we had experienced life like the Gibbons and conquered the jungle!!
